Spider-Man is Coming to the MCU! Villains, Origins & Miles Morales?

Fan fantasy come true! Spider-Man is officially joining the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Sony has reached a deal that will allow Spider-Man to appear in a Marvel film (commence rejoicing-- it's widely believed to be "[Captain America: Civil War](movie:994409)") and star in his own film, likely arriving in 2017.

The language of the announcement seems to indicate that this is a full-reboot, which means we'll be saying goodbye to Andrew Garfield. Unfortunate, but the prospect of Spider-Man opposite [The Avengers](movie:9040) is too promising to mourn for too long. Plus, now none of us have to move on from Emma Stone's Gwen!

Here are four suggestions for the reboot:

Skip the origin story- We’ve seen Peter Parker navigate the high-school experience. We’ve seen him get bit by a radioactive spider, evolve from scrawny teenage nerd to agile teenage nerd, lose Uncle Ben, learn to control his powers and become Spider-Man. In fact, we’ve seen it twice, and in recent memory. We know the story, freeing up the new Spidey to branch out from there. Plus, the Avengers are all old enough that a Peter in his early twenties can still function as the kid of the group.

Diversity- Black Hispanic Miles Morales takes up the mantle of Spider-Man in the comics, and while Marvel’s statement specifically mentions Peter Parker, there’s no reason this new incarnation couldn’t be of a different race. Marvel’s line-up is growing increasingly more diverse but to cast someone of color to play an extremely popular and beloved superhero would be an indication that things are actually changing and blockbuster franchises are willing to step outside of the safe decisions they are typically governed by. With three Peter Parkers in the past few years, this is certainly an opportunity to do something refreshing.

The Internet gets what the Internet wants.

Let me cut to the chase—make the Internet happy and cast Donald Glover. He would bring the comedy (an integral part of the character) but can also pull off the misunderstood element of Peter Parker. He already voices animated Miles Morales! My only concern is that he might be too cool. I don’t know if you can even act your way out of that level of coolness. Based on physical appearance alone (since I haven’t seen him in anything but be the in background of Harry Potter), I like the idea of Alfie Enoch too.

Mix it up with the love interests- By far the best things to come out of [The Amazing Spider-Man](movie:45497) was the chemistry between Garfield and Stone as Peter and Gwen. The reboot would be wise to steer clear of making Gwen Peter’s primary love interest after it was done so perfectly so recently. Rather do a fresh take on Mary Jane (closer to the sexy, flighty, and fiery character of the comics than the Dunst incarnation). Obviously Jennifer Lawrence is a little busy, but someone in that vein. Even better, bring ally-enemy-girlfriend Black Cat into the picture too. She’s an interesting and active character in her own right, who wouldn’t have to be shoe-horned into the plot like love interests often are. It seemed like Sony was already interested in this idea, so it might be Felicia’s time.

Villains- The reboot will have the task of featuring villains that are both interesting and fresh. They’ll have to choose villains that best represent the Spider-Man franchise, but also blend well with the tone of the rest of the MCU. Spider-Man’s strongest villains are mirrors to Spidey himself—intelligent people who have been manipulated or modified by science gone wrong—and the comparison and contrast is often quite powerful. The enemies are also almost always very personally linked to Peter Parker, in comparison to other Marvel properties that mostly feature random genocidal megalomaniacs (Loki not included). Despite appearing in both previous Spider-Man adaptions, Green Goblin is always welcome. Venom deserves proper cinematic telling. Kraven seems like a solid choice, especially since he’s a popular villain who has yet to appear on-screen. Kingpin could crossover from the Netflix [Daredevil](movie:47230) series, inviting other characters to crossover as well. Whatever they go with, as long as they don’t try to jam four villains into one movie, I think we’ll be alright.

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